Bennett holding rally for Bridgewater

Outgoing Sen. Robert Bennett will hold a rally for Senate candidate Tim Bridgewater Saturday, just three days before GOP primary voters decide which Republican is best suited to replace the three-term lawmaker who was unceremoniously ousted by party activists last month.

Bennett will stump for Bridgewater Saturday afternoon at Five Points Park in Bountiful, Utah, a suburb north of Salt Lake City. He is also encouraging supporters to make “phone calls, walk neighborhoods and donate financially” to Bridgewater in the final weekend before Tuesday’s vote.

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“I've known Tim Bridgewater for more than a decade, and I am impressed by the fact that he, like me, brings a businessman approach to political issues. Most of my colleagues in the Senate are lawyers, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but when a legal approach dominates, practical solutions often get pushed aside,” Bennett wrote in an e-mail message to supporters Friday, taking a shot at Bridgewater’s opponent Mike Lee.

The rhetoric between Lee and Bridgewater has turned increasingly negative in the closing week of the campaign ahead of Tuesday’s runoff.

With broad agreement on many of the top issues, Bridgewater has framed the race as a contest between a businessman and a government attorney.

The Lee campaign called on Bridgewater to take down a television ad that highlights that distinction by describing Lee as a “D.C. based lawyer” and fading his picture to black and white. The ad then shows the dome of the U.S. capitol and the words “blame, corruption and resign” pasted behind it.

“Your attempts to tie such malicious words to Mike Lee’s career protecting our Constitution from liberal judicial activism are out of line and unsupported by any facts,” said Lee deputy campaign manager Dan Hauser, referring to Lee’s work as counsel to former Gov. John Huntsman.

Meanwhile, the Bridgewater campaign pulled their radio ads from a local radio station after the firing of a morning talk show host. The campaign claims that KNRS host Bob Lonsberry was fired after he openly discussed why he was supporting Bridgewater.

Lonsberry said he was told he was fired for his ratings, but in a later blog post wrote that “the timing of my termination and the stand I’ve been taking on the looming senatorial primary and the fact I’ve been opposing a candidate who made $600,000 from one of our largest advertisers last year does make me wonder.”

While Lee is backed by Sen. Jim DeMint, Rep. Ron Paul and FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey, Bridgewater received a $1000 contribution from Neil Bush, a Houston businessman and brother of former President George W. Bush.

Bridgewater won the state party convention with 57 percent of the vote, but Tuesday’s runoff is open to all registered Republicans and independents, making the outcome less certain.